Monday, May 07, 2007

Tove Jannson's Moominmamma (that's Moomin's mother, of course) apparently made a delicious rhubarb jam with ginger. So when I found myself with lots of rhubarb the other day, I decided to make rhubarb & ginger jam, just like Moominmamma. I've made it few times before, and really like it. It's a slightly tart rhubarb jam, where ginger leads exactly as much zing as you choose, and it's not overly sweet (we've reduced the amount of sugar a bit). We enjoyed it with golden saffron pancakes yesterday morning, and have a jar in the fridge for the coming weeks...

Wash the rhubarb, and peel if you feel like (I never peel young or early rhubarb, as it'd reduce the lovely colour). Cut into 2 cm chunks and place in a large pot. Add sugar, mix. Add some water and and the knob of ginger.Cook on a very low heat until rhubarb has softened (i.e. the jam should barely bubble when cooking), mixing thoroughly every now and then to avoid sticking to the pan. Remove any scum that appeares on the surface.Scoop out the knob of ginger and divide the jam between sterilised hot jars. Place the lids on top. Keep in a cool and dark storage room.

When I was a child my mother only made rhubarb soup and we had a lot of rhubarbs at home.

Now I use my rhubarbs not only for pies and soups, I make chutneys, jams, marmalades ... Last autumn I bought some new plants. It was a surprise to find how expensive they were. 95 (!) Swedish crowns for each plant.

Pille - Making jam is a great usage of the rhubarb, and pairing it with ginger is a fabulous idea. I was thinking the same thing as Johanna above - what about ditching the water? Have you tried that before? Maybe it wouldn't yield as much...Your result, in any case, is very tempting, as is the gorgeous pairing of it with saffron pancakes. How inspiring! Your blog is bliss to read.

Lobstersquad - I know!! I had a colleague in Edinburgh who moved to Barcelona for a few years. Whenever he was in Edinburgh during spring, he'd buy loads of rhubarb to take back home:)

K&S - I do hope you'll find a keen gardener who grows some 'exotic' rhubarb..

Joey- yes, that's a Moominmamma's official cookbook! It has recipes for cakes, pies, salads, soups and other light dishes that Moomins would love;-) And I love the spoon also. It's from Arabia's Moomin range, and is called Rakkaus / Kärlek / Love / Armastus..

Plume - I hope you do try this jam, especially as you love the books!

Anne - the spoon is cute, isn't it? And yes, it was a great opportunity to visit that farm. We got loads of carrots, too, in addition to rhubarb.

Johanna - you need the tiny amount of water for those crucial first few minutes in the saucepan, when the rhubarb hasn't started to release its juices yet. If you don't add it, you may scorch the rhubarb:( Don't worry, it'll evaporate quickly! (If you use frozen rhubarb, then it may be different)

Hedgehog - you can also make rhubarb & ginger vispipuuro maybe with your frozen stalks? Greetings to Moominland!

Sophie - the spoon seems to be stealing the show here:)

Homesick Texan - well, the rhubarb has been turned into a jam, muffins (twice), crumble, marzipan pie during the last ten days, but there's still some left!

Karin - rhubarb soup (or 'kissell') is popular here, too - that's what my mum would usually make. I've never made rhubarb chutney, though I've eaten it and enjoyed it. Can you suggest a good recipe?

Clivia - you can always make some rhubarb jam, then eat some and use some as a pie filling:)

Melissa - you've made great jams before, so flexing jam-making muscles should be easy for you:)

Valentina - it would be great with yogurt or syllabub indeed!

Shaun - water doesn't influence the end result (i.e. the amount of jam), as it evaporates. It's added to avoid sticking to the pan in the first few moments. The jam was great with saffron pancakes, although it'll shine on plain old crepes as well. And thank you so much for your kind words about the blog:)

Peel rhubarbs if necessary.Cut them into smaller pieces.Peel and chop onions and garlic.Wash, deseed and chop chili.Put everything, except ginger, into a saucepan and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until it thickens.Taste with grated ginger and pour into jars.Keep chutney refridgerated.

I long wanted to make a rhubard & ginger jam but I don't know where to buy rhubard here in Manila. I only read about in in my Jamie Oliver's recipe book about his garden. So finally last holiday I discovered that in Mountain Province region is where rhubard can be found. I enjoy reading your blog!